The New Jersey State Bar Foundation will bestow the 2023 Medal of Honor, the Foundation’s most prestigious award, to retired New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry T. Albin.

Albin says: “I am deeply honored to receive the 2023 Medal of Honor conferred by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. I have had a fulfilling and rewarding journey through the law—and have endeavored to make some positive contribution to our profession and legal system while in public service and private practice. I am gratified by this recognition, but my journey continues. I accept this award as a challenge to renew my commitment to the goal to which we all aspire—a more perfect system of justice.”

A statement by the Foundation reads: “Justice Albin left a lasting impact on the state’s legal landscape, improving the lives of New Jersey residents, businesses, and organizations with his commitment to the fair administration of justice. He remains a strong voice for the independence of the Judiciary, speaking publicly and openly about the importance of the sanctity of the Supreme Court. “

The Award is given annually to lawyers and law-related professionals, as well as laypeople, who best exemplify either or both of the following criteria:

  • significant contribution to the advancement or improvement of the justice system or the betterment of the legal profession in New Jersey
  • professional excellence as demonstrated by accomplishments in the law; or service to the profession and the community during their careers.

A former Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court for twenty years, Albin has been called “the consummate jurist” and “a constitutional giant.” He has authored more than 400 opinions, including more than 230 majority opinions, more than 130 dissents, and dozens of concurrences on issues spanning the wide spectrum of the law, including on such topics as civil rights, criminal law, insurance, employment discrimination, contracts, taxes, municipal government, elections, products liability, and mass toxic torts. Albin is the author of landmark opinions on the rights of same-sex couples, the rights of the accused and workers, and civil rights, among others.

Before his appointment to the high court, Albin practiced in the public and private sectors, trying approximately 60 jury trials and countless non-jury cases and arguing numerous appeals. He began his career as a Deputy Attorney General in the Appellate Section of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, and then served as an Assistant Prosecutor in Passaic and Middlesex Counties before entering private practice and ascending to the bench of New Jersey’s court of last resort.

Albin will share the Award with Lawrence S. Lustberg, Esq., longtime Chair of Gibbons’s Criminal Defense practice and Director of the firm’s John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest & Constitutional Law. 

The Award will be formally presented at the Foundation’s 2023 Medal of Honor Award event on September 26, 2023, at the Park Chateau in East Brunswick, NJ. Christopher Porrino, Chair of Lowenstein Sandler’s Litigation Department and former Attorney General of New Jersey, will introduce Albin.

For more information and to register, please visit moh.njsbf.org.  

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